The Return of the Living Dead
00:39:21
About
It’s Punk Horror month, and punk’s not just a costume, it’s a way of life, maaaan! We kick off with Dan O’Bannon’s classic “The Return of the Living Dead”. A movie in which Linnea Quigley ruins the tracking on a million VHS tapes; Poltergeist’s Mr Teague still hasn’t learnt about effective corpse disposal; and the most sensible and practical character is almost certainly a Nazi war criminal in hiding. A fundamental horror comedy filled with pitch perfect performances, a real vein of nihilism and buckets of gore. The film that gave us running zombies and the love of brains - watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers, and join us.
Not people. Brains.
Famous lines
- "The pain of being DEAD!"— 1/2 Woman Corpse
- "It makes the pain, go away!"— 1/2 Woman Corpse
- "It worked in the movie!"— Frank
- "You mean the movie lied?"— Freddy
Quotes verified against Wikiquote.
Transcript
Show full transcript
LeeGood evening and welcome to horror. I'm Lee.
ChrisI'm Chris.
AdamI'm Adam.
LeeAnd we are here this evening for part one of Punk Rock Horror month.
LeeStarting with the amazing 1985s the Return of the Living Dead.
ChrisCan I jump straight in and say, before we start.
ChrisIs it a comedy?
AdamYes.
ChrisBecause because you kept that little secret from me.
ChrisI assume I assumed deliberately. It didn't take it didn't take me too long this time to to figure it out though. It was before, you know, the final 10 minutes.
LeeYeah, I I think yeah, I think it's funny how much horror comedy we cover. I think it says a lot about Adam and I that as soon as it need a top list of horror movies, 50% of them are horror comedies.
ChrisBut if you also imagine that I'm viewing this directly after watching Night of the Living Dead.
AdamYeah.
ChrisAnd I'm thinking this is a follow on from that.
AdamThink think of it a bit like Texas chainsaw massacre one and two, or even Evil Dead.
ChrisYes.
AdamI suppose.
Adambecause obviously there is the the sort of the basically what happened was is that Night of the Living Dead's written by and obviously directed by George Romero.
ChrisAnd
ChrisJust to cut you off as well. I did completely cut Lee off before you'd finished even the first sentence.
LeeOh no, it's fine. I was literally just rolling into it, but as we've just got into it naturally, let's just Let's go. Let's just keep it going.
AdamSo yeah, so Knight's written by George Romero and John Russo and as part of the agreement that they had, John A. Russo got to keep future rights to Living Dead as a title.
AdamSo all of George Romero's subsequent entries in it are just the dead. So you've got Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, whereas John Russo wrote a novel called Return of the Living Dead.
Chris
AdamAnd then this is sort of based on that.
ChrisRight.
AdamBut yeah, there was a script and then Dan O'Bannon who directed it also sort of quite heavily rewrote it and made it more comedic.
ChrisOkay.
LeeLove Dan O'Bannon's work.
Chris
ChrisBut but you yes, right, so you've said it's punk horror, right?
ChrisI was kind of thinking this almost feels like it's carrying on camp horror.
AdamIt
LeeYeah.
AdamWell, Punk and Camp Horror.
ChrisSeems like a very good transition could do kind of, yeah. Yeah, a similar space.
AdamIt is, although you think that's a costume, man?
ChrisTo wear, yes, yes, very good.
LeeI love that guy's film, like he just
LeeYeah, I I mean everyone walks that line of like an absolute caricature of a person.
ChrisYeah.
LeeBut yeah, it it's just so watchable still, all of them.
LeeIt is Jennifer's one thing I would like to point out. So just before we started recording, Jennifer was hovering around in the hallway, and Adam and joined you and I was chatting with Chris and I said, oh yeah, we watched it last night.
LeeJennifer had never seen it either and watched it for the first time.
LeeAnd he said, oh, what did Jennifer make of it?
LeeAnd her immediate thing was, well, you need to tell people that just because you're in a graveyard doesn't mean all women get naked.
LeeThat apparently that was Jennifer's takeaway from it is that that was the impression she got.
ChrisThat was one detail you could take away, yeah.
AdamWell, I certainly never get invited to those sort of graveyards.
LeeI just love that I I'm sure I have noticed it before, but it just really stood out this time. As soon as she did it and they got the road flares out, someone in the background just
LeeSharted? I'm sure they did, but they sharted as well.
AdamYeah.
LeeTrash is getting naked again.
ChrisYeah. Turn the lights on.
AdamIt's clearly a thing that happens.
ChrisBut I tell you what stuck with me though, was her her little monologue.
ChrisLeading up to it is like, do you have any fantasies about being killed? And then she went into some detail.
LeeYeah, and something happened later on, yeah.
AdamBut Paul Linaea Quigley who obviously we last saw
Adampushing lipstick into one of her boobs in Night of the Demon.
LeeWe last saw her run up to Halloween, obviously always.
ChrisYeah.
AdamYeah, that was fucking hell, when was that? That was episode 40. I thought it was more recent than that.
LeeYeah, sorry, Leia. You should definitely have been on between then and now, we do apologize.
AdamBut yeah, and but apparently, yeah, so she did the strip and a producer was there who complained you can't put pubic hair on television.
ChrisSo
AdamSo she was then taken off, she was then taken off and shaved.
ChrisDone with that.
AdamAnd then came back, and then apparently the same producer was going, well, now I can just see everything.
LeeLaugh.
AdamAnd so then she then had to go and have like a sort of like skin pants glued onto her.
ChrisYeah, yeah.
AdamIt sounds like a pretty fucking rough sort of like shoot for her.
AdamEspecially because I always forget she literally does not put her clothes back on.
ChrisFor ages.
ChrisOr or at all, yeah.
AdamOr at all.
ChrisIt is and she's in it, yeah, a few more times.
AdamFunnily enough, Claire said she thought she wondered why she hadn't seen
Adamthat as a more iconic like Halloween costume or cosplay.
AdamAnd I mean, admittedly, you have to be
ChrisLike
AdamStarkers but like
Adamin terms of like, you know, because she said, well, you've got like the hair like the wig and everything is all quite an iconic look, so, I could try and pull that off. Yeah.
LeeOh, it's like a it's like a big go-goggles on and the long grey leggings.
LeeChris would definitely turn up to a party dress like that.
ChrisI'm I'm tempted.
LeeBut yeah, no, it is like it is an iconic look, as soon as you see it, you just, and especially later on where they put that prosthetic mouth thing on her so her mouth, you can see her when she goes to bite one of the ambulance drivers and like her jaw is obviously distended by several inches longer than it really is.
LeeThey put like a prosthetic bottom half of her face on her. Yeah, that'd make an amazing cosplay, but
Leeyeah, as you say, she is technically naked by that point.
LeeAnd who's going to go out in just a pair of leggings and a and a wig?
ChrisI'm going to follow on straight away with that to say, yes, possibly.
ChrisBut I I really liked the zombies in this.
ChrisRight, and again, it was one of those, well, how how good are they going to be in sort of comedy way?
ChrisAnd yet somehow that just they worked almost as well as the rest of the characters.
AdamThey make the thing, they make the very smart decision of having them talk.
ChrisYeah.
AdamAnd also this is where the brains thing comes from.
ChrisYeah, but I did wonder how
AdamBecause
Chrisbecause I think this is fairly old, isn't it?
AdamIt's 85s.
Chris85.
AdamYeah.
ChrisBut it's
ChrisSo what how many other zombie movies had been out before?
AdamOh, they've been they've been quite a few because of the success of Night of the Living Dead.
ChrisI mean, they've been like Living Dead.
AdamAnd I think Day of the I think Dawn of the Dead had already come out at that point, and I think Day of the Dead might be the same year.
ChrisOkay.
AdamOr it might be like a year before.
AdamSo,
Chriswe we haven't seen that yet though. So that's what I was expecting us to be watching the third. And so yeah.
AdamBut no, this is this is a very divergent
Adamuniverse.
ChrisBut but yeah, interesting what they bring into it really.
AdamAnd they also explain it within terms of film. They mention of have you seen Night of the Living Dead and that's the film that we made about the incident.
ChrisYeah.
LeeOh, sorry, just to point it out. This is the same year as Day of the Dead.
Adamthere we go.
AdamSo yeah, so it's two because Day of the Dead.
AdamI mean, I love it, but I get
Adamwhy a lot of people don't.
ChrisOkay.
ChrisIt's a bit of a
AdamBecause you'll love it, Chris. It's darker as fuck.
ChrisOkay, yeah.
AdamWhereas this this is still.
AdamWhat I like about this is I think that this I I got a bit sort of, yeah, definitely punk.
AdamBecause this as a film doesn't pull any punches in terms of its horror and it does end with the only solution being to nuke everyone.
ChrisYeah, yeah.
AdamNo one survived.
ChrisThat was not.
AdamNo matter how much you fought, the army will just drop a bomb on you to solve the problem.
LeeYeah, and it doesn't and it doesn't solve it.
LeeYou just brightened and you're all fucked to get in.
ChrisI figured I figured that was the message at the end.
ChrisI was like, yeah, okay, I've got my message, great. The army does not know what they're doing, you know.
AdamBut it's but it's a very funny film for a film that's that nihilistic.
ChrisYeah, yeah. Well, well, so so I mentioned someone that we were covering it tonight.
ChrisAnd and they said, oh yeah, I saw that.
ChrisAnd I was like, that's weird.
ChrisI didn't expect that.
ChrisAnd she said, yeah, like, and I had nightmares after it and I was thinking, this is, she was much younger.
ChrisBut I was like, actually, if I was young watching this, even though it is funny.
ChrisI could see there really are some pretty harsh bits in it still.
AdamI think you'd take it more seriously.
ChrisYeah, probably would.
LeeAnd there's that fantastic and I think it's a perfect shot. I think that's part of the reason I love this movie as much as I do. There was that perfect shot, as you say, like trying to get that balance between real horror and comedy. There's the scene where the zombie has got the paramedic and the whole top of his head is missing and he's literally eating the flesh out of what's left of him.
LeeAnd the radio goes and he picks up the radio and says,
ChrisOh.
LeeSend more paramedics.
ChrisI love that.
LeeLike from through horror to fantastic comedy in a single shot and both of them work perfectly.
ChrisSo, well.
AdamThere is a band called that as well.
ChrisSend more paramedics.
AdamYeah.
AdamAnd it was one of those things where I saw it written down I was like, it sort of just sparked something in the back of my head and I was like, what is that from?
AdamAnd then it
LeeOh, right.
AdamYeah.
AdamIt took a while to click.
ChrisBut it is funny though, because so much of this, if you showed it to me written down, I'd be like, is that going to work? And yet it really did. Like, if you'd said that's what they're going to do and I'd be like, that's a bit silly. And yet somehow I just really liked the fact that the zombies said that.
ChrisAnd then later on he said send more cops.
ChrisAnd it's like this is ridiculous, but somehow I just so entertaining that that they've got that personality to them.
Adam
AdamWell, also, but then there's also the really fucking and it is dark.
AdamWhen Freddy has turned and he's sort of like
LeeYeah.
AdamEmotionally guilt tripping Tina to try and, I broke my hand just trying to get to you.
LeeYeah, it's all your fault.
AdamIt's really fucking horrible.
ChrisYeah, because she was obviously so upset.
ChrisThat she wanted to join them like in the room.
ChrisThis is not a good idea.
AdamBut also, there's a it's it's weird because I watched I watched Dark Star because I hadn't seen it for ages and
Adamit's Dan O'Bannon and John Carpenter.
ChrisIs this something I should definitely watch?
AdamI think you probably would like Dark Star because it's basically
AdamIt's for a start, it kind of inspired Red Dwarf.
Chrisokay.
Adam
Adamand it's basically it's basically alien.
Chrisall right.
AdamBut you've got a comedy alien instead of a nasty, horrible, like, you know, living penis dragon.
Adamyou've just got a beach ball with funny hands that tickles you while you're trying to get through a lift shaft and stuff.
AdamAnd it's yeah, but there's a bit in it where at the start of it, they say the commander's dead and the commander is actually in cryogenic suspension at the point of death.
Chris
AdamAnd they can kind of talk to him.
AdamBut it's just really sort of distant and sort of slightly harrowing and it's sort of like, you know, it's really cold here.
AdamAnd again, shouldn't be in a comedy film.
AdamAnd it's similar with this where you've got like the the absolutely horrible concept of how painful it is to be dead when they've got the half zombie strapped to the table.
ChrisYeah.
LeeYeah, and it explains things.
LeeThat is a beautiful thing, like I just, oh that puppet's amazing.
Lee1985, it looks everything in this looks phenomenal. Again, it's that thing of having a horror comedy, but as you say, like the horror is 100% real, like if you took the comedy elements out of this, yeah, you're right.
LeeIt'd be fucking harrowing because it's really gory.
LeeAnd then a really disturbing end.
AdamYeah, with really dark concepts in there as well, you know, it's like
Adam
Adambut no, I mean, it's just and
AdamI I've got to say, James Karen as Frank.
AdamIt's
Adamone of the finest fucking performances just full stop.
AdamWe last saw him in
AdamWe last saw him in Poltergeist, he was the real estate boss who didn't move the body.
LeeThat's right.
LeeYou only dig graves. But it's well, it's
AdamBut yeah, he's him and when just his reaction when it all kicks off is just so wonderfully inept and sort of just like when it's the half a dog.
AdamJust kill it.
LeeYeah.
AdamWe all know his brain, he just And when he's going to him, look,
AdamI'm just going to saw his head off, I don't know if I can do this anymore for Bert.
LeeIt's just And him and Klu are just all the performances in this is astounding.
Leebut yeah, them two together just play it so well, like that boss that boss and middle management type relationship they have.
ChrisYeah.
LeeYeah.
AdamYeah, it's no, it's perfect.
AdamAnd also, I don't know if you picked up on it, Ernie is probably
Adama escaped Nazi war criminal.
Chris
LeeYes, I did get that, yeah.
AdamI was that obvious you've got pictures of Hitler and Ava Bron up in his
ChrisI almost I almost never see pictures when they're on the wall.
ChrisI missed the Elvira one as well.
AdamOh yeah, that's true.
AdamBut this is now this is sort of a bit more blink and you miss it.
AdamBut he's got a German gun.
LeeI was going to say he's got a Luger. He's got a Luger gun and he's listening to German
AdamLike Panzer marching music from yeah.
ChrisOkay.
LeeAnd he's very blond and yeah, like it's a very
LeeBut yeah, it's I it's this is one of those films.
LeeI I've got to admit, I don't dig out as often as I should.
LeeBecause I always feel like it's a little bit draggy and it goes a little bit slow, and then I watched it last time and it doesn't at all, it's fantastic.
ChrisYeah, non-stop.
AdamIt's
AdamI, I mean, I was I was still, I was still COVID suffering.
AdamWhen I watched this, it was nearly a problem because I was laughing so much.
AdamThat it was like I was fucking choking at parts of it.
AdamAnd it's like and it doesn't let up, it's a proper, you know.
AdamAnd it's weird for something to start off quite intense and keep it going.
ChrisYeah.
AdamEspecially something comedic or, you know, or action.
AdamIt's you you end up with sort of, you usually end up with like little bits or whatever.
AdamBut this just seems to it just fucking rollocks along.
ChrisIt just gets so much, so right.
AdamYeah.
LeeI love the way that the the characters left together at the end as well don't all gel. So it's like Kluga and Spider and as you said, the musician guy. So like it it's the the people from the three different elements of the story are all left together and they don't really get on or like each other, but they're all in this horrible situation together and Yeah, they're just there's just something about the writing of this that I just feel was spectacular and is just Yeah.
Adam
ChrisI think you have mentioned that before then, yeah.
AdamDan O'Bannon's in it, and he he co-wrote the script, he's the editor.
AdamSpecial effects and stuff like that so he it's sort of like.
AdamHe was doing quite well.
AdamThen there's the incredible fucking story which is a a podcast on on its own of June, they were going to make June. Alejandro Jodorowsky was going to make June back in the mid 70s.
AdamAlejandro Jodorowsky is quite the most singular fucking director visually that you will see.
ChrisOkay.
AdamHis films are fucking insane psychedelic
LeeNonsense.
AdamI would say I would say very very deep and meaningful, but there we go.
AdamBut it's but no, seriously, you've not lived until you've seen a
Adampeople marching through with a set of crucified skinless goats and then someone recreate the Conquistadors killing the Aztecs by way of frogs and iguanas dressed up on an exploding Ziggurat.
AdamThat is the sort of stuff you get with Alejandro.
AdamAnyway, he wanted to make he wanted to make Dune.
ChrisThat would have been interesting.
AdamDan O'Bannon was involved as for sort of like effects and advice and stuff like that.
AdamAnd basically he got a lot of ideas from Jodorowsky's film which eventually didn't happen.
AdamHe then wrote the script to Alien and sold that.
AdamBut because he'd he was the one who'd met Giger or Giga HR Giga and Mobius, the French illustrator, and they're the people who go on to design Alien.
Chris
AdamAnd it was actually a hold over from Jodorowsky's plan because what he was going to do is he was going to get different designers to design the different planets.
Chris
AdamSo that it would be completely different to each other and stuff like that.
AdamAnd so when they made Alien, Mobius designs all the space suits, all the earth technology and Giga designs the aliens and all the alien sets.
ChrisYeah, that's good.
AdamAnd that's why they're so sort of drastically different.
AdamAnd yeah, and again, that's like Dan O'Bannon's connection into that.
AdamAnd yeah, really he was sort of he would, he did some more sort of script writing but mostly he was a script doctor, but obviously by being involved with Alien.
AdamHe's you and essentially, you know, he gets if if Ripley is in a film, he gets paid because he created the character.
AdamAnd yeah, so he was very did a lot with that.
AdamBut the only film he directed was this and a film called The Resurrected, which I've never seen.
Adam1999 1991 horror film.
Adambut he wrote Alien, Dead and Buried, Life Force, Total Recall.
Adamso he you know, he was involved with quite a lot of really cool stuff.
AdamAnd actually Toby Hooper was meant to direct Return of the Living Dead and he decided to do Life Force written by Dan O'Bannon instead.
AdamSo Dan O'Bannon took over as director on this.
Adamand also apparently, he was meant to play Frank.
AdamHe wrote the character of Frank for him.
AdamAnd I'm just like,
AdamI I mean, I like Dan O'Bannon, but no, I I can only see James Karen doing it really.
Adam
LeeHe just does such a good job.
LeeI mean, and everybody does in this.
LeeI think, I mean, considering it's such a wacky story.
LeeI think everyone manages to get that balance just right and I know I say it quite frequently, but like it's got to be really difficult to be on that precipice between horror and comedy and managed to not go too comedic then it's all slapstick and stupid. Like and and I think that is the sign of a good director every time and that is the difference between a good horror comedy and a shit one.
LeeAnd that's why we only really cover the good ones.
LeeBecause we don't want to cover any crap.
Leebut yeah, like on this, it just totally everyone is on the same page.
LeeEveryone is in the same film effectively.
AdamYeah, no one's.
AdamNo one is not playing a serious part and funny moments arrive arise from those caricatures.
AdamNo one's, oh, this is the bit where we're joking.
AdamNo one's winking to the camera or anything.
AdamIt's very, it's basically, everything about it is straight apart from the jokes.
LeeYeah.
AdamWhich sounds fucking
AdamPossibly the most reductive thing I've ever said on this podcast. I'm just going to go in another room and shoot myself in the head.
LeeYou're right though. Don't you panic because we're going to step into your realm now, because you mentioned it briefly earlier, music. The music.
AdamOh, yeah.
LeeI mean, I mean, obviously, aside from 45 Grave and the Cramps.
LeeThe score as well is just phenomenal.
LeeLike
AdamThe score is fucking brilliant.
LeeIt's
Leeso 80s, it's cripplingly painful.
LeeI love it.
AdamBut but it's so works.
LeeYeah.
AdamAnd actually, I I'm not sure if I'm right about this, but there's a damn song on the soundtrack, but I don't think it's in the film. Because I I'm I'm pretty sure I I I would I would have spotted it in the film because it's the damn.
AdamSo, you know.
LeeI remember him.
AdamBut yeah, I I think it's on the soundtrack and was it would suit the film.
AdamBut I'm pretty sure it's not actually in it.
LeeYeah.
LeeAs I am 45 Grave, obviously their track is the one that is always because it was one that was on the trailer, so it's the one that's always associated with it.
LeeYeah, and the cramps just again fits the perfect to that. Yeah. It's so wacky and fun and just
AdamYes.
LeePerfect. And actually, even the even the Rory Gallagher track that goes over
AdamBut
Adamwhen Frank burns himself.
Chris
LeeYeah.
LeeYou know, just overly poignant in the middle of it all as well, you know, it's sort of
AdamBut yeah, it's
AdamI I think it, yeah.
AdamI think it fulfills Punk horror.
AdamI think it's got it's got that same sort of thing.
AdamYou clearly don't give a fuck.
Chrisyeah.
AdamDo you know what I mean? It's like, here's all these characters, you might like them, you might not. They're all fucking dead by the end.
Adamyou know.
AdamYou can some people will find this bit disturbing, some people will be cackling.
AdamThey're probably weird.
AdamBut, you know, it's
LeeJennifer did laugh all the way through this, a lot more than I thought she would do.
LeeYeah, just because it is like it is a lot darker than I remember, you know, I said before we started recording.
LeeIt's one of those, it's one of those films I always say I love, but I very rarely find myself in the mood to put on.
LeeSo I've probably not seen it in five years, which is probably why Jennifer had never seen it because I'd never sort of said to her, you really need to see this.
ChrisYeah.
ChrisBut how often do you put on any zombie film?
LeeI think that's what it is.
ChrisMostly not, yeah.
ChrisAnd yet this is
Chrisyou could definitely separate this from most other zombie films.
LeeThis is one of the highest, like this is absolutely on a tier with like Shaun of the Dead for me. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
LeeThis is top five zombie movies without a shadow of a doubt.
Leebut yeah, zombie movies ultimately fall lower on my.
AdamAnd but I think probably if I'm in a zombie mood, I'm going Romero.
AdamAs well, so for me, it's sort of like, oh, it's the in my head.
AdamIt's like, oh no, it's the unofficial sort of offshoot.
AdamIt's not really the same.
AdamAnd actually, yeah, it's it really holds its.
AdamFucking enjoyable.
AdamI think actually the trouble is as well is because I actually watched it.
AdamThis this is how forward thinking I was, I recorded it off of Film Four.
AdamAnd I think it was last Halloween.
LeeOh God.
Adambecause I thought
LeeWe're going to do it.
AdamIt'll come up eventually.
AdamBecause it's but it's also a right, I mean I've got other stuff in there, I've got the frightened sitting in there, we'll have to do that one day.
LeeOh, that as well.
AdamBut but that.
LeeHold that on the car.
AdamYeah, I think it was just.
AdamIt's a it's one of those ones that's oddly expensive.
AdamYou know.
AdamAnd it's one because it's odd because as on video.
AdamIt was one of those ones that you picked up in an off license.
Chris
AdamAnd never regretted the five pound you spent on it because it was just a great film.
AdamAnd then, but now it's I think because it's rightly got its sort of esteem, like all the fucking Blu-rays are expensive or, you know, you can't get it in certain regions and stuff like that.
AdamAnd it's just yeah.
AdamSo I've never actually had it on, I don't think I've had it on DVD.
AdamSo again, it's sort of like one of those things if you don't watch it that often, so I again, I don't watch it that often.
AdamAnd actually it's like, no.
AdamThis is fucking terrific.
AdamIt does unfortunately mean that I'm probably going to end up paying through the nose at some point to watch it again.
AdamI don't know.
LeeSo
LeeSee if you can get the box.
LeeIt's
Adam
LeeLike the second one, I thought was pretty good. The third one obviously is like a cult classic as well. Return of the Living Dead 3 is one of those. I've seen three, I haven't seen two. Is it all by the same same director, same writer? Yeah, I think it's not Dan O'Bannon. I don't know about the writing. yeah, so Dean, my brother Dean had returned the Living Dead 2 on VHS, possibly that he lent me. So I saw that one quite a lot.
LeeAnd I knew that three had a big cult following.
LeeBut as you say Adam, that was one of those I spent years trying to track down a copy of that for less than 30 quid.
LeeBecause like
Adam
LeeI was like, so the first one's pretty good. The second one was a little bit less.
LeeIf the third one is less than that and I've paid more money for that than I've paid for 90% of my DVD collection, I'm going to be pretty pissed off.
Leebut yeah, I I did find it a really good. I think it was another one of those where they kind of found, so they did the first one, the second one was not quite so good.
LeeSo they went back to, right, well what did people like from the first one and kind of brought it back to that?
Leeyeah, and just made it really well. But of course there's like eight or nine of them now.
AdamIs there?
LeeYeah. I I knew I knew there was a fourth, certainly.
LeeI got a feeling it's ridiculous.
LeeI think like number eight is from the
Leegrave to the rave or it's it's like a long it got into that.
LeeLike Hellraiser where if you had a zombie film, if you could attach the living dead to it.
LeeSuddenly it became worth a big thing.
LeeBut ultimately you're a shit movie.
AdamYes.
AdamYou could get it made, yeah.
AdamI think it's that again, though.
AdamIt's, let's face it, it's something that you can't really do as a recurring set of characters anyway.
LeeYeah.
AdamBecause, you know, literally everyone is dead.
AdamAt the end of it, so.
LeeYeah.
LeeYeah.
LeeYeah.
AdamUnless some of them come back as zombies, I suppose.
AdamI think the colonel comes back in the second one.
AdamI read.
ChrisDoes he?
ChrisOh.
AdamBecause I think that was that's quite nice as well when he's just on the phone is, yes.
ChrisYeah.
AdamAnd then what happened?
LeeAnd then what did he do?
LeeAnd then what did you do?
LeeI love that character.
LeeLike and you kept wondering where that was going until the end when he gave across the access codes and you were like, oh, I see.
LeeSo he's the one with the football who's just going to sign the entire thing off.
LeeSo the president ultimately hasn't got to do it himself.
ChrisYeah.
LeeIt's like.
LeeIt's so grim and it's it's wonderfully nihilistic.
AdamIt's it's wonderfully nihilistic and still a fucking party film.
LeeAnd that's quite an impressive achievement. It is.
LeeI think that's what it is, you know, I said earlier on, I said I I always felt that it goes on a long time. I think this is one of those films that is like a 1:00 in the morning, I've been drinking for a long time, I'm going to chuck some in or no, I'm going to chuck some in. Oh, that's just horror enough and just funny enough and you put it on and then you start to sober up by half past two in the morning and you've still got half an hour left of it and you're like, oh, fuck, this is a slog now.
LeeI think that's what it is.
AdamYeah.
AdamI think I define most films at that time in the morning.
LeeYeah. As sobriety combines with, how long have I actually been up?
LeeYeah. I definitely shouldn't have another beer. It is half past two in the morning, but equally, I'm not going to make it to the end of this sober.
LeeSo.
LeeSo.
LeeYeah.
LeeSo yeah, it it's a fantastic and as you said, like it's a perfect party movie.
LeeIt is one of those you've got your friends over.
LeeYou know, you're all having a few beers and a laugh.
LeeIf you want something to chuck on in the background that you can kind of just go back to whenever the key scenes come in.
LeeIt's perfect for that.
LeeIt's.
ChrisIt definitely, yeah.
LeeIt's perfect for that.
LeeIt's that thing of the
Leethe skeleton breaking, like the ground breaker coming out.
LeeAnd then opening its eyes, which is ridiculous because the skin's all gone off of it.
LeeBut he's still got eyes, but fuck it looks good.
AdamFunnily enough, I I think the effects guy said that he he thought that that was a test shot and apparently he was like really pissed off they used it in the main film.
LeeYeah.
LeeAnd it's and they use it twice.
AdamYeah, it's one of the most but it's also iconic because it's in the trailer, it's always, it's always the clip that people show.
LeeYeah.
AdamProbably because it's in there twice, there's no more but that's not.
LeeAnd
Leeit just looks awesome.
LeeIt's.
LeeAnd and that's the thing like I I really like the effects in this.
LeeAs you say, for a horror comedy, they totally go full on like there's no holding back with it.
LeeIt's really splattery and it's really and the ta monster as well.
LeeI've noticed this because obviously I've always known him as the ta monster because that's how he's always referred to amongst Yeah, nerds.
AdamYeah.
LeeBut it was only this time that I actually heard Spider refer to him as the ta man and I was like, oh, so he is actually called the ta man in the film.
LeeIt's not just something that people have called him.
AdamYeah, it's not like Pinned or whatever, which was just yeah.
AdamIt's
Adam
Adambut and again that's just a really that that is that treads the real line between.
AdamThat's funny and that's fucking horrible.
LeeYeah.
AdamYou know, because it's it's it's grim as well as hilarious.
AdamBut it's
Adamyou know what I mean?
AdamJust like a melted skeleton.
AdamAnd and also the way he moves.
LeeYeah, I love that.
AdamYeah.
LeeThat really reminds me of Thriller when you see the zombies in Thriller, they have that very like I'm wondering if that's where they've got it from.
LeeLike it's that same sort of body move, like like a dance, because obviously in Thriller, it all then becomes a horror.
Lee
LeeYeah, and it's definitely got that feel to it.
LeeBut I yeah, I really like that.
LeeIt's that because he makes the whole thing about.
LeeYou know, the limbs freeze up and you have to break the rigor mortis out of him, so the fact that he's kind of it's moving on its larger
ChrisYeah, strange rhythmic kind of, yeah.
Leejoints rather than the smaller ones and it creates that strange.
LeeYeah.
LeeI I it's.
LeeYeah, it's a masterpiece of a film.
AdamSo yeah, you seem to kept this quiet somehow.
AdamIt's it's weird because
AdamI think probably me and Lee just clearly don't think about it as much as we should.
AdamEven though it's a fucking great film.
LeeIt's one of those films it's like the Exorcist, it's so good, it's kind of
Leeyou kind of don't have to talk about it because everyone knows it because it's amazing and it's a league beyond and you kind of forget that to some degree.
LeeAnd then when you go back and watch it and you go, oh shit, no.
LeeIt really is that good.
ChrisIt is.
LeeLike.
Adam
LeeYou know, it's a bit like when somebody says, oh, you know, talk about sci-fi or whatever.
LeeAnd you go, well, you take Star Wars out immediately before you start.
ChrisYeah.
LeeBecause you don't need to talk about that. Everybody knows it because it's amazing and it's a league beyond.
LeeAnd you kind of forget that to some degree.
LeeAnd then when you go back and watch it, you go, oh shit, no, it really is that.
LeeYeah, it it's just, yeah, it it's a fantastic film.
Leeso for our next episode on that note.
LeeWe are going to go to the other end of the spectrum.
LeeNot to say it's dog shit, I'm not saying that.
ChrisOkay.
LeeBut we are going for a much less lesser known film.
Leeone that was mentioned to us on our listener request month.
AdamYes.
Leewe had a request for Wild Zero.
AdamAnd I have still not seen this, so I'm looking forward to this.
LeeMy I can't wait.
LeeFor the text message you're going to send while you're watching it.
ChrisYeah, I can't remember if you said anything about this or not. No.
LeeYeah, so so I watched it because someone had recommended it and it's the only thing I'd never seen and I just was like immediately we we need to do this.
LeeWe have to do it, yeah.
LeeWe need to get I know it didn't make it into listener requests because we did it in the random generator.
LeeBut having seen it, I was like we need to fit this in somewhere because it's it's fucking mental.
LeeAnd it fits perfectly with this film.
ChrisYeah, that's good.
LeeIn a very strange way.
AdamI can't wait.
Lee
LeeOh.
LeeIt's
LeeYeah.
LeeIt's it's one of those ones.
LeeYou just I've never heard of it.
LeeIt can't be anything.
LeeSomeone's recommended it.
LeeI'm going to chuck it on midweek.
LeeBecause I'm not quite tired, you know, I want to kill an hour and a half before bed.
LeeAnd then you just go, well, where has this been all my life?
LeeLike why have I not been involved in this for a longer period?
LeeSo, yeah.
LeeI'm very keen to see that.
LeeThat's not overselling it.
LeeSo don't get your hopes too high, I went in with a very, I've never heard of this, it's got to be pretty shit.
Lee
LeeYeah.
LeeAnd it's awesome.
LeeBut I love Japanese movies.
ChrisExcellent, yeah, looking forward to it.
LeeIndeed.
LeeGood, right.
LeeSo, thanks very so much for listening.
Leejust a very quick one before we leave. I said on our last episode, we I mentioned the monsters, and I said it was on Netflix. That was my mistake. I'd ordered it on Blu-ray to come out and I knew it was due originally to come out on Netflix and on Blu-ray on the same day, but apparently they've put back the Netflix release, it's still isn't out now on the 14th of October on the UK Netflix. yeah, and I've had a few people say to me, I thought you said it was on Netflix. I it was originally supposed to come out on both platforms at the same time. and then they didn't, the money grabbing bastards. Yeah, so I do apologize about that. But it'll be out soon and I wouldn't rush too much to see it.
LeeAnyway.
LeeYou said it was quite good for kids though, potentially.
LeeOh yeah, yeah, totally. It's well worth a watch and I think for for kids, it's totally family friendly. It's a great film.
LeeSo yeah.
LeeGood stuff. Yeah.
LeeRight, so thanks very so much for listening.
LeeAnd good night.
ChrisGood night.
AdamGood night.
LeeWatch Wild Zero.
LeeListen to Not For Everyone podcast.
LeeAny Rick and if you didn't watch Return of the Living Dead.
LeeNo, fuck.
LeeAnd watch Return of the Living Dead.
AdamYeah.
LeeFucking.
AdamBit like now.
LeeSpilers and swearing.
AdamA little bit.
ChrisIt's just not it is not spoiled. Definitely not spoiled.
